Torpedoes:
24 total, 10 in tubes and 14 in reload racks. Primary torpedoes used were the Mark 14 and Mark 23, both steam driven. By the end of the war Bowfin was using the Mark 18 electric torpedo and Mark 27 acoustic torpedo nicknamed the cutie.

BOWFIN: A BALAO-CLASS SUBMARINE

Of all the classes of submarines during World War II, the Balao-class contributed the most submarines to the submerged fight. Approximately 265 were ordered and more than 119 were completed between 1942 and 1945. The major improvements over the previous Gato-class was the upgraded thicker, higher yield strength steel and the pressure hull skin and frame. It increased their test depth to 400 feet. One Balao submarine, USS Tang (SS-306), actually achieved a depth of 612 feet, as stated by the Tang’s commander Richard O’Kane in his book, Clear the Bridge!: The War Patrols of the U.S.S. Tang.

The Balao-class submarines entered service in mid-1943. They were in the forefront of the submarine force’s success of near-destruction of the Japanese merchant fleet and significant reduction of the Imperial Japanese Navy.

One of the most significant submarines of this class was USS Archerfish (SS-311) that sank the largest warship by a submarine, the aircraft carrier Shinano (59,000 tons).

DID YOU KNOW?

USS Bowfin went out on nine war patrols between August 1943 and September 1945 and sank a total of 16 vessels for 67,882 tons.